UK to spray insecticide in planes from Zika-affected areas | Reuters

Aircraft returning to Britain from Zika-affected countries will be sprayed with insecticide to check the spread of the disease, the UK government said on Friday.

Planes are already sprayed with insecticides as a precaution against malaria. (bit.ly/1QhVZxN)

Concern about Zika has been magnified in recent days after the outbreak was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization.

Although sexual transmission of the virus is possible, mosquitoes are primarily responsible for its transmission.

Major U.S. airlines United and Delta and Europe's Lufthansa and Air France are offering to re-assign certain flight crew concerned about contracting the Zika virus from routes to affected countries.

On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its guidelines for pregnant women to include a recommendation that even those without symptoms of Zika infection should be tested after returning from areas affected by the outbreak.

(Reporting by Amrutha Penumudi in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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